[okfn-discuss] Jaron Lanier on the pitfalls of free (as in beer at the least) information

Wed Jul 17 16:08:04 UTC 2013

Jaron Lanier has some extremely important points, essentially that economic
justice matters and that we need dignity and basic wealth for all people.
Aside from that, his particular claims are nonsense.

I don't agree with all the punditry (especially not always with the tone)
at Techdirt, but here's some perspective:

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130426/14134922855/jaron-lanier-gobbledygook-economics.shtml

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130528/02012623226/jaron-laniers-ignorance-history-basic-economics-efficiency-is-getting-ridiculous.shtml

Quite the contrary to Lanier's claims, free-as-in-beer, i.e. gratis,
resources are *democratizing*. More things being gratis is *enabling* to
low- and middle-income people. It is literally the opposite of what Lanier
says and his claims about the history of middle-class economics are
nonsense.

The history of our economics has been one of gross exploitation all along.
The problems of today are real and serious, but Lanier's nostalgia for the
good-old-days is based on fiction. The times Lanier thinks of as better
were just transitioning out of share-cropping and child labor. What made a
strong post-depression middle class was technological advancements, the
peak of easy, cheap oil production, and progressive taxation. It was an era
in which tons of natural resources and open land were still available,
energy was cheap, and so people could take advantage of it. Now, energy is
much more expensive. We've gone from oil just bubbling up in a field to
desperately pulling it out of rocks and sand and super-deep oceans, and all
the really good land and easy natural resources have been used up and the
population has more than doubled within one generation. The cause of our
economic struggles today have nothing to do with music now being gratis to
access and share.

Please keep in mind that this is not my most nuanced version of the
history, although even this simple view is more nuanced than Lanier's. Also
note: I have not read his most recent book, although I did read his past
one, *You Are Not A Gadget.

*
Cheers,
Aaron

--
Aaron Wolf
wolftune.com

On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 10:41 PM, heath rezabek <heath.rezabek at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> http://m.spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/computing/networks/jaron-lanier-were-being-enslaved-by-free-information
> http://
> spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/computing/networks/jaron-lanier-were-being-enslaved-by-free-information
>
> I'm still processing what I think of his ideas here, but it's really great
> food for thought.  Also evolves the FLO conversation.
>
> Lanier is a very smart fellow with a legacy of innovation.  Ideas that
> truly challenge our assumptions are priceless.
>
> See what you think.
>
> - Heath
>
>
> --
>
> Heath Rezabek
> Outreach & Collaborations Coordinator, Starship Congress
> USA (512) 507-1101
> hrezabek at icarusinterstellar.org
> @starshipcongrss
>  <https://twitter.com/StarshipCongrss>starshipcongress.com
>
>
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